Garment for invalid

ABSTRACT

A novel garment is disclosed for particular use by invalids, comprising a full front and a partial back extending from above the wearer&#39;&#39;s hips upwardly to the waist or shoulders. In a preferred embodiment, the invention comprises a skirt-like garment having a front skirt panel resembling in appearance the front of a conventional skirt, and side panels substantially encircling the wearer&#39;&#39;s body above the hips. The front skirt and side panels terminate at their upper edges in a waist-encircling waistband having means to secure the ends thereof to each other and thus maintain the garment in position.

United States Patent [191 Wolfson 1 GARMENT FOR INVALID [76] Inventor:Bernard R. Wolfson, 9207 Watson Road, Silver Spring, Md.

[22] Filed: Nov. 14,1969

[21] Appl. No.: 876,884

[52] US. Cl I ..2/69, 2/47, 2/D1G. 7 [51] Int. Cl. ..A4ld 9/00 [58]Field of Search 2/69, 69.5, 211,

I 2/47-52, DIG. 7, 231, 1, 2

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 502,113 7/1893 Chambers..2/51 1.2l7,855 2/1917 Zimmerman ..2/51 X 556,530 3/1896 Chandler .2/51X 2,157,932 5/1939 Glover ....2/211 X 742,059 10/ l 903 Peterson ..2/51

[451 Apr. 17, 1973 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1 1,523 1899 GreatBritain 1.2/48 391,230 8/1965 Switzerland 1.2/21 1 381.739 10/1932 GreatBritain ..2/1

Primary Examiner-H. Hampton Hunter Atrorney-Jacobi, Davidson & Kleeman 57 ABSTRACT A novel garment is disclosed for particular use by invalids,comprising a full front and a partial back extending from above thewearers hips upwardly to the waist or shoulders. In a preferredembodiment, the invention comprises a skirt-1ike garment having a frontskirt panel resembling in appearance the front of a conventional skirt,and side panels substantially encircling the wearers body above thehips. The front skirt and side panels terminate at their upper edges ina waist-encircling waistband having; means to secure the ends thereof toeach other and thus maintain the garment in position.

7 Claims 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEB APR 77373 FIGI INVENTOR.

Bemmao R. WQLFSON 7M, I m, I'm/Mt) 1 GARMENT FOR INVALID f BACKGROUND'OFTHE INVENTION This invention relates generally to garments, and particularly-toa garment which can be utilized by an invalid confined to awheelchair or otherwise restricted in movement. 1

It should'be apparent that an invalid confined to a wheel chair has animmense problem with dressing in clothing of conventional design,evenwith the aid and assistance of another person. While this is true ofI clothing in general, it applies particularly to nether garmerits suchas skirts or trousers or the like which cover the wearer substantiallyfrom the waist down, inasmuch asthese must in nearly all cases be drawnover the wearers hips in one way or another. Obviously, when the personis unable to rise, this task becomes'quite difficult if not actuallyimpossible.

It has been proposed to partially overcome this problem by providinggarments specifically designed for invalids which 'wrap around the bodyof the wearer I and thus do not require the person to rise. However,

such garments are generally quite distinctive as such y and make noattempt to even remotely resemble conventional clothing, which may oftenhave a negative psychological effect upon the wearer. These knowngarments are also frequently difficult to put on and take off andonlypartially alleviate the problem of dressing.

. SUMMARY or THEZINVENTION 'With the above background in mind, it istherefore an object of the present invention to provide a garment forinvalids which overcomes the above mentioned drawbacks of the prior art.

Specifically, it is a primary object of the present in vention toprovide a nether garment such as a skirt.

which can be put'on and taken off by an invalid confined to a wheelchair or otherwise restricted in moveinent,with a minimum of help.

- 'nlt is a further object of the invention to provide such a garmentfor an invalid which, when worn by the person, resembles in appearance aconventional garment v such as a skirt. I

These as well as other objects which will become apparent as thedescription proceeds, are implemented by .the present inventioncharacterized by a novel garment for particularuse by invalids,comprising a full front andapartial back extending from above thewearers hips'upwardly to the waist or shoulders. In a preferredembodiment, the invention comprises a skirt-like gar- .nient' having afront skirtpanel resembling in appearance the front of acon'ventionalfskirt, and side panels substantially encircling thewearers body above. the hips. The front skirt and side panels terminateat their'upper edges in a waist-encircling waistband having'means tosecure the ends thereof to each other and thus maintain the garment inposition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention itself will be betterunderstood, and additional features and advantages thereof will becomeapparent, from the following detailed description of a preferredembodiment'of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

, above the wearers hips when in use. The side panels 8 FIG. 1represents aplan view of a skirt-like nether garment constructedaccording to this invention, shown as it appears opened out flat; and

FIG. 2 is aperspectiveview showing the garment worn by aperson confinedto a wheel chair.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring'now to the drawings, andparticularly to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the garment according tothis invention comprises essentially a wrap-around skirt of any desiredlength, such as knee length. The skirt includes a front portioncomprising a front skirt panel generally designated as 2, extending froma waist-encircling waistband 4 along the, upper edge thereof, to asuitable hemline 6 along the lower edge thereof, and a pair ofsidewardly'extending side panels or portions designated as 8, whichextend from thewaistband 4 downwardly a suitable length to terminate ina lower edge 10 which is preferably situated at or immediately may beformed from the same piece of material, such as woven ornon-wovenfabrics, paper, etc., as the front skirt panel 2, oralternately may comprise separate panels which are stitched or otherwisesecured to the sides of the frontskirt panel 2.

The bottom edge or hemline 6 of the front skirt panel 2, as well as thelower edges 10 of the side panels 8, are preferably formed generallyarcuately, as illustrated, in

order that the garments will substantially conform to the body of thewearer when the garment is wrapped around the wearer.

The side panel members 8 terminate at their resp ective outer sidesinside edges 14, the horizontaldistance between the two sides edges 14,i.e., the combined horizontal width of the two side panel members, beingsuch as to permit the side panels and the upper portion of the frontskirt panel to be substantially wrapped about the waist of the wearer.As shown, the front skirt panel terminates at its opposite sides insubstantially vertical side edges 12, the horizontal width between theseside edges 12 being such as to permit the garment to be wrapped aroundthe wearer in front and the side edges 12 to be tucked under the legs ofthe wearer when the wearer is in a sitting position, Means are providedfor securing the garment in position upon the wearer. For this purpose,the opposite ends of waistband 4 extend to either side beyond the sideedges 14 of theside panels and terminate in opposite ends 16.Cooperating means are provided ad jacent each of the ends 16 forsecuring the ends of the waistband to each other behind the back of thewearei I at any suitable position, and as shown may preferably comprisea pair of cooperating elongated panels l8 of resembles in use aconventional skirt, can be readily put on or taken off by an invalid, asfor example confined to a wheel chair, without the necessity for rising.The garment is wrapped around the person from the front, with the sidepanels 8 substantially encircling the body of the wearer from the waistdown to just above the hips, and the waistband 4 may than be fastenedbehind the wearers back by means of cooperating securing means 18 to anydesired degree of tightness. The side edges 12 of the front skirt panel2 are then tucked under the wearers legs, and the garment then resemblesin appearance a conventional skirt.

While the invention as shown and described comprises a skirt-likegarment, it is evident that this same principle can be applied to othertypes of garments, as for example a pair of trousers or slacks having afull front portion and a body-encircling side portion extending aroundthe wearers body from the waist downwardly to just above the hips.Alternately, the garment may comprise a full length dress or the like,in which case the garment from the waist up would be substantiallyidentical with a conventional garment.

It is believed evident that by constructing a garment according to thedetailed description above, all of the objects set forth in theintroduction to the specification have been successfully fulfilled.Accordingly,

What is claimed is:

1. A dress-like garment for use by an invalid confined to a wheelchairenabling the invalid where capable to dress without the aid of othersand without the need to be lifted out of the wheelchair, comprising; afront skirt portion having an upper edge, and extending from the wearerswaist downwardly to a lower edge defining a hemline, and having a pairof lower opposing side edges, the horizontal width between said sideedges being sufficient to wrap said front portion about the front of theWearers legs and to tuck said side edges under the wearers legs when thewearer is in a sitting position but insufficient to wrap said frontportion completely about the body of said wearer, an upper side portionconnected to and extending outwardly from each side of said frontportion and extending downwardly from said upper edge to a lower edgejust above the hips, said lower edge intersecting said lower side edgesof said front portion, said side portions having a combined horizontalwidth sufficient to wrap said side portions completely about the body ofthe wearer above the hips, and fastening means adapted to secure saidside portions at their ends so as to hold said garment in positionwrapped about the body of the wearer, whereby said garment in useresembles a conventional skirt in appearance.

2. A garment as defined in claim 1, further comprising a waistbandsecured to said upper edge of said front portion and of said sideportions, and extending outwardly to either side of said respective sideportions, said securing means being secured to said wastband adjacentthe respective opposite ends thereof.

3. A garment as defined in claim 2, wherein said securing meanscomprises a pair of cooperating self-adhering fabric strip memberssecured to said wastband.

4. A garment as defined in claim 1, wherein said hemline is formed of anarcurate shape enabling said garment to substantially conform to thebody of the wearer when the garment is wrapped around the wearer.

5. A garment as defined in claim 4, wherein said lower edge of said sideportions are formed of an arcurate shape.

6. A garment as defined in claim 1, wherein said side portions and saidfront portions comprise an integral one-piece sheet of material.

7. A garment as defined in claim 1, wherein said front portion is ofknee length.

1. A dress-like garment for use by an invalid confined to a wheelchairenabling the invalid where capable to dress without the aid of othersand without the need to be lifted out of the wheelchair, comprising; afront skirt portion having an upper edge, and extending from thewearer''s waist downwardly to a lower edge defining a hemline, andhaving a pair of lower opposing side edges, the horizontal width betweensaid side edges being sufficient to wrap said front portion about thefront of the wearer''s legs and to tuck said side edges under thewearer''s legs when the wearer is in a sitting position but insufficientto wrap said front portion completely about the body of said wearer, anupper side portion connected to and extending outwardly from each sideof said front portion and extending downwardly from said upper edge to alower edge just above the hips, said lower edge intersecting said lowerside edges of said front portion, said side portions having a combinedhorizontal width sufficient to wrap said side portions completely aboutthe body of the wearer above the hips, and fastening means adapted tosecure said side portions at their ends so as to hold said garment inposition wrapped about the body of the wearer, whereby said garment inuse resembles a conventional skirt in appearance.
 2. A garment asdefined in claim 1, further comprising a waistband secured to said upperedge of said front portion and of said side portions, and extendingoutwardly to either side of said respective side portions, said securingmeans being secured to said wastband adjacent the respective oppositeends thereof.
 3. A garment as defined in claim 2, wherein said securingmeans comprises a pair of cooperating self-adhering fabric strip memberssecured to said wastband.
 4. A garment as defined in claim 1, whereinsaid hemline is formed of an arcurate shape enabling said garment tosubstantially conform to the body of the wearer when the garment iswrapped around the wearer.
 5. A garment as defined in claim 4, whereinsaid lower edge of said side portions are formed of an arcurate shape.6. A garment as defined in claim 1, wherein said side portions and saidfront portions comprise an integral one-piece sheet of material.
 7. Agarment as defined in claim 1, wherein said front portion is of kneelength.